Samsung Galaxy S22 leaks reveal design and specs — and Samsung doesn't want you to see them

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra front and back with S Pen
(Image credit: Evan Blass)

There are still Samsung Galaxy S22 leaks emerging even just a week and change before the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event on February 9. Although Samsung doesn't seem to want you to see them.

Leaker Dohyun Kim posted what he claims is a promotional video of the Galaxy S22, but we can't say for sure. That's because by the time we got to look at it, the video had been blocked by a copyright report.

Samsung's been going in hard on leakers posting images of the Galaxy S22 and also the Galaxy Tab S8, the other big product expected to appear at Galaxy Unpacked on February 9th. We saw this most notably with leaker Evan Blass, who after suffering several copyright strikes ended up locking his account and posting further leaks by email newsletter to try and escape the wrath of Samsung's lawyers.

Samsung legally has always had the right to crack down on leakers that post its material pre-launch, but given these leaks can generate excitement among the users most likely to buy the company's latest gear, in the past Samsung and other companies have been more relaxed about this type of leak. Not this year apparently.

What the Galaxy S22 Ultra leak shows

As for the leak itself, all we have to go off of is a screenshot captured by Gadgets360. It shows the Galaxy S22 Ultra, including the new rear camera layout and built-in S Pen, as well as annotations showing all the specs.

That includes the 6.8-inch QHD AMOLED display, the phone's five total camera sensors (108MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 10MP 10x telephoto and 40MP selfie), its use of either the Exynos 2200 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset (likely a region-dependent spec), and its 8GB/12GB RAM and 128GB/256GB/512GB storage memory options.

We can't see what the video had to say about the basic Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus, but it seems like it backed up many of the rumors we've already heard. That includes some notable changes compared to last year, such as new 6.06-inch and 6.6-inch sizes, a new 50MP main camera on the back plus the same Snapdragon or Exynos chip options.

Galaxy S22 case leak reveals official Samsung options 

One of the rumors not mentioned in Kim's leak is the shape of the phones. However, a different source seems to back up assumptions that Samsung's sticking to the same arrangement as last year.

Images of official Samsung cases for the Galaxy S22 were posted by SamMobile (via TechRadar), and reveal that the range includes a simple back cover for the S22 and S22 Plus, and a Smart Clear View Cover for the S22 Ultra, a leather folio-style case which lets you see your always-on display through a cutout on the front. We can also see the shape of the phones, with Samsung will using flat displays for the S22 and S22 Plus models, while using a curved-edged design on the S22 Ultra.

This isn't a surprise if you know about the displays used on the Galaxy S21 series. After offering only curved displays on the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung returned to flat screens on the S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus, while leaving the Ultra curved.

Curved displays arguably look nice than flat ones, and can help larger phones fit more easily in users' hands. However, there's a large group of people who find interacting with curved screens results in a lot of accidental touches, making for a frustrating user experience.

Make sure you bookmark our Samsung Galaxy S22 hub and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra hub for all the latest rumors and leaks. 

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Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.